The Fox
by Ven'sPen
Summary: Lea Keller is new in France, and soon comes across the Fox Miraculous. But, after being unwittingly manipulated by Hawkmoth, she turns against Cat Noir and Ladybug. Meanwhile, her parents' marriage is falling apart. I posted a link to the Ladybug PV in Chapter Six, but I've since realised it doesn't work: /watch?v FlwV3scCgAM&spfreload 10
1. Chapter 1 The City of Romance

**Author's Note: I promised myself I would write a fic until I was up to date. But, since I'm watching the show in English, it doesn't seem like that will be any time soon. Unless I post this after I'm up to date, and make this note entirely pointless. I will try to stay true to the canon as much as possible, but I am using OCs and Head Canons also. But I'm rambling, so I'll leave you with this first chapter. Set after episode 12 "Darkblade." Hope you enjoy.^^**

 **Chapter One:** The City of Romance.

Lea Keller, born and raised in Somerset, England, had been horrified to find out she was moving to France. Her parents, who had both grown up in Germany, had settled in England after finding out that Lea's mother was pregnant. Lea knew they loved to travel, but she had a life in England. Her friends lived in England, and her exams would be coming up soon. She'd have to take them in French, she realised. She'd taken German as one of her GSCEs in school, although her mother had been teaching her anyway, now she knew why they wanted her to take French as well.

She buttoned up her coat as she sauntered through the rainy English weather. Her last day in the country, and she was spending it walking around aimlessly in the rain. Her phone was ringing constantly; some random piece of music she'd heard in an advert once and liked the sound of. Eventually, she ducked under a bus stop and answered her phone.

"Hallo, Mutti," she greeted her mother, whose name had been displayed on her caller ID.

Her mother ranted at her in German for a few minutes. She was clearly angry that Lea had left before dinner without saying anything. Inevitably, Lea had let her mother persuade her to come home. And the next morning, the family of four were boarding a plane to France.

It was a week before Lea could start school. Kerstin and Axel Keller wanted to make absolute sure that their children were fully moved in, familiar with the surrounding area, and fluent enough in French before starting school. Oliver was only six, and would be starting Primary School. Kerstin had called ahead to warn them of Oliver's vague understanding of the French language. Despite the fact that Lea had been unwilling to move, she'd quickly changed her mind once they arrived. Her parents were relieved when she'd expressed a wish to explore Paris more thoroughly.

She was the first to wake up on her first day of school. Lea combed through her medium length mousey brown hair. She pulled on a pair of large head phones, using them to pin back her hair so it wouldn't fall back into her turquoise eyes. After applying a thin layer of lip gloss and minimal mascara, she located some clean underwear and put them on. Then she wrestled with a pair of jeans and tugged on her favourite Tshirt. She plugged her headphones into her phone and pressed play, then headed downstairs to make some breakfast. Fifteen minutes later, she was sprinting down the street, eagerly awaiting her first day of school.

There was a loud crash, not that Lea heard it with her music on, and a car landed on the pavement in front of her. She screamed and turned to flee, but another car blocked her path. She pulled her headphones down and let them sit around her shoulders, watching crowds of people disperse. A loud roar erupted from behind the car, almost made comical by the fact that she could hear _The Trick to Life_ by _The Hoosiers_ playing through her headphones. She swallowed, and crouched down on the ground, as a large green head peered over the car. Before Lea could scream again, a black clad figure flung themselves at the monster and started hitting it with a stick. They shouted something over their shoulder, and another person, dressed in red this time, joined them. There was a brief struggle with the reptilian beast, before the female, who seemed to be dressed as a ladybird, pried something from the creature's hand and destroyed it. The reptile started to glow and shrink, and soon became a frail looking elderly woman. The red girl shouted something at a little butterfly and things around them started fixing themselves. Lea was breath taken as the cars flew away to their respective parking spaces.

The girl, who wore a skin tight red and black polka dotted suit, turned to high five the boy, who wore a skin tight black suit with cat ears and a tail.

"We didn't even use our powers, nice," the guy exclaimed.

The old woman behind them was thanking them profusely.

"What just happened?" Lea inquired, keeping her eyes on the woman who had presumably been about to eat her.

"Are you new to Paris?" The girl asked.

"We're Ladybug and Cat Noir, protectors of Paris and all its inhabitants," the guy announced excitedly, beaming at her.

"Well, thanks, I guess," Lea replied. "I need to get to school now."

They both gasped in unison. And Lea smirked as they hurried away in opposite directions. Her first day of school was already more exciting than she'd expected, and she hadn't even reached the school yet.

Lea tried ducking into the classroom unnoticed, but her teacher spotted her immediately. The lesson had already started, but Lea was called up to introduce herself anyway.

"My name is Lea Keller," Lea said uncertainly."I grew up in England, but my parents are from Germany. I have a little brother, and I moved here last week."

Ms Bustier asked Lea to find a seat once she was done, and Lea immediately headed to the back of the room. Her heart was still racing from her encounter with the "Protectors of Paris" and she guessed that the move wouldn't be as boring as she had initially thought.


	2. Chapter 2 Witness

**Chapter Two:** Witness.

Lea Keller, new in town and filled with curiosity, made it her business to find out about the Miraculous. She spent the next few weeks asking her fellow students for any information they had. That was how she met Alya. She was speaking with a girl named Marinette when Alya approached her.

"Have you seen my blog?" She asked her, as if Lea should know what she was talking about.

"No, why do you ask?" Lea replied politely, noticing the amusement on Marinette's face.

"I call it the 'Lady-blog,' it's dedicated to Ladybug," Alya sashed proudly. "Check it out, if you want news on Ladybug."

"What about Cat Noir?" Lea asked.

"Oh, come on, everyone knows Ladybug is better," Alya laughed.

"Cat Noir is pretty cool, though," Adrien piped up behind her.

"Class, please take your seats," Ms Bustier called, as she entered the room.

They started sitting down and Lea took her seat at the back of the classroom. She stared at the back of Ivan's head while Ms Bustier rambled on about some novel she wanted the class to read. Lea stared at the clock impatiently. She'd hated school in England, and she wasn't about to start liking it now she was in France. Not to mention Ms bustier would occasionally use a word or phrase that Lea didn't understand. She tried to remember them so she could ask her mother, but quickly decided she didn't care about that either. inevitably, i dozed off with her face in her arms on the desk.

When she woke up, Ms Bustier was saying something about Adrien's father. Wasn't he famous or something? Lea couldn't remember, but someone had mentioned him before.

"The winner will be offered an internship by Gabriel Agreste, and be a model in an upcoming photo shoot with our very own Adrien." She explained. "All you have to do is design and model an outfit by next week."

The offer wasn't exactly alluring.

Being an intern didn't appeal, and she didn't know a damn thing about style. She'd studied Textiles in England, so she knew how to use a sewing machine or embroider, or pretty much anything. But, when it came to choosing colour schemes or aesthetics in general, she was hopeless.

"You should go for it," her mother sashed enthusiastically. "Your needlework is excellent, Lea, and your fashion sense could be considered abstract. Besides, an internship with Gabriel Agreste would impress future employers, even if you do end up moving back to England."

"Why would I move back to England?" She asked flatly. "I thought you liked it here."

"I do, I-" She cut herself off. "Oh, I love it here, but you never know what will happen in the future."

"So, I guess I'm entering the competition," she sighed and leaned back on the kitchen worktop.

"You'll do great, Lea," mum breathed proudly.

So, over the following weekend, she thought of nothing else. She looked at what her fellow students were wearing outside of school, to see what was popular in France. But her mother kept entering her mind. Why would she go back to England? They had just got there, and she was honestly starting to like it. After patrolling the city, she decided to go home for dinner. It would be dark soon, and she was hungry. It was later than she'd thought, because it got dark quicker than she'd thought. Perfect way to spend her Sunday evening, Lea thought bitterly.

She heard a glass pane shatter around the corner, and took cover immediately. Peering around the corner, she saw two men in ski masks breaking a window. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket, as one of the men clambered through the window. Her phone bleeped loudly to alert her that it was running out of battery, and a line on cold sweat began to form on her forehead. The second man looked up at the bleeping, and she turned to run. But he was fast, and on her immediately. As he grabbed her, he shouted to his friend. The other man was holding an octagon shaped box. Lea cried out for help, but there was nobody around. She struggled and bent her leg before thrusting her foot backwards at her assailant. The man grunted and released her. She took her chance and darted forward, colliding into the second man. He dropped the box in surprise and two objects fell from it. Lea grabbed the first one she saw, but couldn't reach the other. Then she started to sprint away.

She was clutching the object so tightly as she ran, that the edges began to dig into her hands. She was panting when she reached her front door. Only then did she think to check that she hadn't been followed. The two men were nowhere to be seen. She took a deep breath and allowed herself to relax a little. She realised she was still holding something, and looked into the palm of her hand to see what it was. It was a fox tail pendant attached to a gold chain. It didn't look like much, and Lea wondered why they had bothered to steal it. But she sort of liked it, and started to think of fox themed outfits for the competition. But first, she would have to persuade her parents not to ground her for being late home.


	3. Chapter 3 Ellin

**Chapter Three:** Ellin.

Lea Keller, grounded but still working furiously to finish her outfit design, had her headphones on as she sketched. Her hand was blur as it erased parts of the design and sketched out new parts. Her parents had been shouting when she she got in, and Oliver was already in bed but not yet asleep. They had been distracted temporarily from their argument to scold Lea for missing dinner and ground her for the next week, but her mother had allowed her to still enter the competition; after all, it was her idea that she do it in the first place. So, Lea had put on her music to drown the two of them out, and got to work. The fox pendant lay on her desk, beside her sketchbook, and Lea glanced at it occasionally. Once she was satisfied with her design, she finally allowed herself to sleep.

She was exhausted the next day, but wasn't surprised. She dressed in a hurry because she'd overslept, and left the pendant on the desk. She almost fell down the stairs and rushed into the kitchen to grab something to eat.

"I was about to wake you up," Kerstin Keller said warmly. "I made you some toast."

Lea grabbed a slice and shoved it into her mouth, and made a move for the door.

"Straight home," Kerstin reminded her.

"I know." Lea grunted, opening the door. "Chous, Mutti."

Before Kerstin could reply, Lea was already running while she ate.

She was still late for her first class, Ms Mendeleiev glared at her when she arrived. Lea quickly found her seat and Ms Mendeleiev began to tell them about sequences. Lea's mind wandered to the robbery. What was so special about the pendant? And was the other item a pendant, too? She considered giving the pendant back to the owner, but she needed it for inspiration. Maybe they won't mind her using it, just until the end of the week, she thought doubtfully. And Ladybug and Cat Noir, the so called 'protectors of Paris' had been a no show in her hour of need.

It took her the entire week, but Lea finally finished her competition entry. An orange dress with bell sleeves with white embroidering around the skirt hem. The chest area was tight but had a high neck line, and she'd embroidered a little sleeping fox design on the back in orange thread. Her mother frowned when she saw it, but politely complemented her daughter and assured her that Gabriel Agreste would be impressed with her embroidering skills. She tried it on one final time, and checked herself out in the mirror. Catching sight of the pendant on her desk, a thought crossed her mind.

She waited until her mother had left the room to make Oliver his breakfast, and grabbed the pendant. She slipped it on over her head and examined her reflection in the mirror.

"Hello!" A little voice cried.

Lea yelped and stared in horror at the reflection of the tiny, orange and floating creature. She had a bushy fox tail and cute little ears. She was staring up at Lea with round yellow eyes.

"Uh, hello," Lea said weakly, she turned her head to face the creature.

"I'm Ellin, the Fox Kwami," she said excitedly. "Wow, I've been in Miraculous for so long, it's good to get some fresh air."

"Right," Lea replied swallowing, she started backing away.

"No, don't go," Ellin pleaded. "Let me explain-"

"Lea?" Her mother called from downstairs. "Are you changed yet? It's almost time for school, and today is the big day."

"Explain later," Lea whispered. "I need to go."

She changed into her every day clothes, and carefully placed her dress inside her bag. She kept the pendant on, and Ellin hid in her bag with the dress.

When she arrived at school, people were discussing the competition eagerly. People were crowding around Adrien and asking questions about his father, and Chloe was bragging to whoever would listen about her design.

"Hey, Lea, are you entering?" Marinette asked behind her.

"Uh, yeah, my mum convinced me to," Lea blushed. "I bet you are. Alya says you're amazing at this kind of thing."

"I'm not that good," now it was Marinette's turn to blush, "but I am entering."

"Well, good luck," Lea beamed.

"Thanks, you too," Marinette grinned back.

They were joined by Alya, and then the three of them headed for the gymnasium where the competition would be held.

The school staff had set up chairs for an audience, and students began to take their seats. Parents would be on their way to see the show, and, most importantly, Gabriel Agreste; the judge. Marinette, Chloe, Rose, and Lea all went backstage to get changed. Marinette had gone for a sleek, sleeveless black dress with red polka dots and a red ribbon tied around the waist. Rose had made a small, pink frock with puffy sleeves and yellow ruffles. Chloe's was a short, red dress with black polka dots and no sleeves; it also looked store bought. Lea knew immediately that the winner would be Marinette. Alya hadn't been kidding about her being good.

They heard the announcer out on the stage and knew the show was about to begin. Lea felt uncomfortable in her own dress, but Marinette assured her that it was lovely. She fidgeted in her seat and kept fumbling with the pendant nervously. She hadn't bothered to do her hair, preferring to let it hang down to her shoulders in a light brown heap.

Chloe went first, her heels clicked as she trotted down the make shift runway. Lea looked down ashamedly at her worn out trainers. Rose was second, she skipped merrily along her way and beamed into the audience; Juleka even wolf whistled. Then came Lea, who stumbled her way down the runway. She caught the eye of Gabriel Agreste, who was watching her intently, and blushed. Her father was shouting words of praise in German at her, and her mother was irritatedly reminding him to speak French. Lea knew she hadn't won, but people applauded her anyway. She reached the end and bowed, then turned and hurried back up the runway and through the curtain. Marinette was on the other side, waiting her turn, she smiled enthusiastically at Lea as she went by. Lea grimaced back, and went to take her seat.


	4. Chapter 4 False Victory

**Author's Note: Okay, so I may have been silly and watched ahead in the show. I couldn't wait to see the origin episodes so I watched them in French. As a result, they've been incorporated into the story from now on. So if, like me, you're still waiting for "The Mime" to come out in English, this will contain spoilers. Very sorry if you're affected by this! But, if you've already seen those episodes, then I hope you enjoy this chapter. :I**

 **Chapter Three:** False Victory.

Lea Keller, sitting backstage and resisting the urge to vomit, gave Marinette a queasy smile as she joined them backstage. They could hear Mr Damocles chattering to the audience. Chloe kept glancing at her phone, and peeking at Marinette angrily.

"...Lea Keller!"

It took a Lea a moment to realise her name had been called. Marinette and Rose were patting her on the back and congratulating her, while Chloe glared at her.

"What...?" Lea said groggily.

"Lea, you won!" Rose cried happily, clapping her hands together enthusiastically.

"What...?" Lea repeated, she was having difficult focusing on Rose's voice.

"They're waiting for you, Lea," Marinette told her, helping her to her feet. "You won."

"Wow..." Lea breathed, suddenly becoming aware that she was sweating copiously.

She all but fell onto the stage and tried her best to walk upright to stand beside Mr Damocles. Gabriel Agreste was sitting in front of the audience, holding a sign with her name on it, and keeping his eyes settled on her. She inhaled deeply, and tried to avoid the urge to throw up. Her mother was looking at her a worried look, but her father was cheering louder than ever, as Gabriel Agreste stood up to approach her. People were clapping and they seemed louder than ever. She was acutely aware that he was stood beside her now, saying something her Mr Damocles, but she could focus on what it was. She tried to breathe evenly and looked around worriedly, before abruptly collapsing on the stage.

An hour later she was sitting in the school infirmary sipping a plastic cup of water. Her parents and Oliver were there, her parents were arguing. Mr Damocles and Gabriel Agreste were talking in hushed tones and Adrien was standing awkwardly beside his father. Lea hadn't said anything in over half an hour, and was eager to leave.

"Mr and Mrs Keller, could you please calm down?" Mr Damocles pleaded, turning his attention to her parents.

"It's too much strain on her, clearly," Axel Keller cried.

"One panic attack doesn't mean she has to throw away this opportunity," Kerstin Keller growled. "She won fair and square, she should be allowed to see it through to the end."

"I'd like to speak to Miss Keller alone, if you'll all leave," Gabriel Agreste said calmly.

Everyone stopped for a moment, and then began to leave in unison. Lea was almost impressed by the way people listened to him.

"I'm sorry, but that design was absolutely awful," he said simply. "But, then I saw your necklace."

Lea raised her hand to touch the Miraculous, and he snorted.

"No need to be worried, I have one too," he told her.

"It's not mine," she admitted. "I found it in the street."

"Lea, these things have a way of finding who needs them most," he replied, unbuttoning his blazer and removing it.

A small purple creature with butterfly wings flew out of his blazer, and Lea guessed that he'd been hiding there for the entire show. She looked down at herself and Ellin flew out from underneath her skirt, she'd hidden there while Lea was being taken to the infirmary.

"This is Nooroo, the Butterfly Kwami," he told her, while Nooroo looked up at her hesitantly.

"I'm Ellin, the Fox Kwami," Ellin said brightly. "I haven't really had much chance to fill Lea in."

"Have you heard about Hawk Moth, you think he's bad, yes?" He was putting his blazer back on as he spoke.

"Well, yeah," Lea said. "That's what everyone says."

"And Cat Noir and Ladybug are good?" He pressed, and she nodded. "What if I told you it's the other way around?"

"That's impossible, only good people can possess the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous'," Ellin objected.

"Normally, yes," he agreed. "And I've been trying to retrieve them for the good of France, but my Heroes aren't strong enough."

"You're Heroes?" Lea asked.

"Yes, people who are sad or angry, I can use my powers to change them into Heroes," he explained. "But they can never defeat them."

"I thought they were destroying the city," Lea glanced over at Nooroo's worried face.

"No, quite the contrary, they're trying to stop Cat Noir and Ladybug," he replied. "But they've got everyone so wrapped under their thumbs, they think they're saving everyone. It's quite frustrating, really. But think about it, have you ever seen Ladybug or Cat Noir help someone when my Heroes aren't around?"

"I was attacked the night I found this necklace, and they were nowhere to be seen," Lea told him.

"Exactly," he finished.

She could barely sleep that night. Gabriel had promised to teach her how to use her powers, under the guise of being his intern. She had to plug her headphones in to drown out the sound of her parents shouting match downstairs, but she was still happy. She was a little dismayed that she'd only been picked as the winner because of Ellin, but that thought quickly moved to the back of her mind. Ellin was curled up in the blanket with her head resting on Lea's arm. Eventually, Lea removed her headphones and switched her music off.

Her parents had gone to bed, and the house was silent. Outside she could hear a dog barking, but she tuned it out.

"Lea?" Ellin breathed.

"Ja?" Lea whispered.

"Do you think we can trust Hawk Moth?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "But Nooroo is a Kwami, right? So he's trustworthy."

"But what about Cat Noir and Ladybug?" She persisted. "I'm worried about their Kwami."

"I think, for now, we'll take everything with a grain of salt," Lea decided sleepily. "Us versus the world."

"Is that safe?" Ellin asked, but Lea was already asleep.


	5. Chapter 5 Body Beacon

**Chapter Five:** Body Beacon.

Lea Keller, new intern for Gabriel Agreste and freshly made super hero, was keen to start. She and Ellin had decided that they would do whatever they could to help Paris. The first week after the competition had flown by for Lea, and she had visited Agreste Mansion every day after school; her mother had ungrounded her so she could do the internship. However, while Gabriel was technically hiring her as an intern, he was far more interested in Ellin.

The two of them stood in his office, Lea was nervous but Gabriel was calm. It would be her first time transforming, as she'd wanted to be sure she had all the details before committing to becoming the Fox.

"Ellin, do your thing," she nodded at the fox Kwami who was floating beside her.

Ellin flew into her Miraculous and Lea immediately felt the magic start to work. She found herself grinning as her outfit changed into a skin tight orange suit and a white mask appeared across her face. White tipped orange fox ears materialised amongst her strawberry blonde hair and a bushy fox tail sprung from just above her back side.

Gabriel looked at her approvingly and smiled slightly. She looked down and examined her new form.

"This is incredible," she breathed. "Where did Ellin go?"

"She's within you now," he replied. "It's really something, isn't it?"

"Wow," Lea exhaled, still smiling.

"The earrings Ladybug wears are her Miraculous, and Cat Noir wears a ring," Gabriel informed her. "Without them, they're powerless. If you need back up, I'll send another Hero out. But I doubt you will require assistance."

"No pressure," Lea remarked.

As she moved from rooftop to rooftop, she wondered how Adrien would feel if he found out his father was Hawk Moth. She debated telling him, but she didn't want to make Gabriel angry with her. Besides, her mother would be furious if she failed her internship after a week. It occurred to her that Ladybug and Cat Noir might not even appear if there was no Hero to challenge them, so she had to think of a way to force them to make a move. Then it dawned on her. If they thought a new villain had appeared to join them, they would have to come and greet her. They would have their guard down and she would have the element of surprise; it was perfect.

She came to a park and stopped in the centre of it. People were looking at her with confusion and awe, and she remembered she was transformed. The road beside the park was busy with traffic, and Lea spotted Alya waiting to cross. She resisted the urge to greet her friend, but then realised it would be good for publicity. Alya ran a blog dedicated to Ladybug, maybe Ladybug was a follower. She realised Alya was crossing the road and called out for her to wait. Alya turned to look over her shoulder while stepping out onto the road, and Lea realised with horror that a car was speedily approaching. But the driver wasn't looking at the road, she was looking at Lea.

"Body Beacon!" Lea cried instinctively, holding out her arm toward Alya.

Suddenly, Lea could see herself standing in the park, a few feet away from the road. Reality had slowed down to a snail pace, and Lea realised she was seeing things from the driver's perspective. She looked in front of her and was relieved to find that she hadn't run over Alya yet. She wrenched the steering wheel right and the car turned away from the road in slow motion. Lea screamed as she realised she was about to crash into the metal fences of the park, but she was abruptly jolted back into her own body. Everything went back to its original pace, and Lea watched helplessly as the car collided with the fence.

Alya ran to the car immediately to see if the driver was okay, so Lea followed suit. The woman driving the car was relatively unscathed, but Alya called an ambulance anyway.

"I'm so sorry, I'm new at this!" Lea stammered to the woman.

She was interrupted by her Miraculous beeping at her, and she realised with horror that Alya had started filming her on her phone after hanging up with the paramedics. The Fox Miraculous around her neck, which had turned completely white during the transformation, was now started to return to its orange colour.

"Are you a new hero?" Alya was asking. "Do you know Ladybug, are you working with her?"

"I need to go," Lea faltered, and turned to sprint away.

Alya was calling after her as she ran, but she needed to get away.

Her powers ran out as she ducked into an alley, but she was safe. Lea allowed herself a moment to collect her thoughts before setting off for Agreste Mansion. She had failed to even meet Ladybug and Cat Noir, but at least she had stopped Alya from being run over in a backwards way. She hoped the driver would be okay, she hadn't seemed too bad. When she reached Agreste Mansion she pressed the buzzer outside the main gate, and was greeted by Nathalie's voice.

"I'm Lea Keller, the intern," she introduced herself.

"I thought you were already here," Nathalie replied confused.

"I was. I left and came back," Lea said meekly, biting her lower lip.

The gates whirred and began to open for her, and Lea made her way inside. Ellin was hiding in her jacket, but Ellin didn't want to risk letting her out yet.

"Hey, Lea, you were just here, weren't you?" it was Adrien.

He was coming down the stairs and had stopped in front of her. Lea stood at the bottom and looked up at him.

"I left and came back in," she repeated her lie, and continued to nibble her lip nervously.

"If you keep biting, you'll make it bleed," he warned her uneasily. "Anyway, I need to go. I just saw Alya's Lady-blog update. She almost got ran over, so I'm going to Marinette's to help her make sure Alya's okay. You want to come?"

Lea stopped herself from telling him that she'd just come from there, and politely refused his invitation. She still needed to update Gabriel on the situation, and she didn't want to see Alya so soon after almost getting her hurt.

They said goodbye and she started up the stairs. Ellin wormed her way out of her jacket and peeked over Lea's shoulder.

"Lea, look," she gasped.

Lea turned and looked over at Adrien. He was almost to the front doors with his back to her, but she couldn't see what Ellin was pointing at. Adrien stopped, as if listening to something, and then then turned to shoot Lea with a confused expression. Ellin swiftly re-hid herself behind Lea. Lea gave Adrien a weak smile and continued to make her way up the stairs.

"What did you see?" She asked Ellin, once they were at the top.

"It was probably nothing, forget about it," Ellin replied hesitantly.

Lea came to Gabriel's office door and tapped on it lightly. Hearing his voice call out and greet her, she let herself in and prepared to de-brief him.


	6. Chapter 6 When Heroes Collide

**Author's Note: For those of you who may be interested, I am starting up another Miraculous fic. I've been watching the Ladybug PV**

– **watch?v=FlwV3scCgAM &nohtml5=False – –**

 **and been thinking about how Felix and Marinette would interact with one anther. So I've decided to rewrite the first season with Felix as Adrien's taller, more studious twin brother. He possesses a different cat Miraculous and may or may not fight alongside Ladybug and Cat Noir. We shall see. As I'm not yet up to date with Miraculous (I'm not even sure if it's finished airing yet, as I'm watching the English dub) I may choose to post it after I've finished the series. But anyway, I need to not ramble. Let's get back to Lea and Ellin!**

 **Chapter Six:** When Heroes Collide.

It had been two days since Lea had 'saved' Alya. She was telling and re-telling the story to anyone who would listen, and had posted a lengthy update on her Lady-blog. Lea couldn't help but be amused to hear the story, only she knew who 'The Fox' really was; well, and Gabriel Agreste, of course. She wondered if Ladybug and Cat Noir felt the same way, when they were living their normal lives outside of taking over Paris. Lea pushed the thought out of her mind.

She was outside in the freezing cold night for a reason. Gabriel didn't know she was doing it, but she and Ellin had decided to patrol the city. She remembered how awful she felt when Ladybug and Cat Noir hadn't come to her rescue during the robbery, and she didn't want anyone else to feel that way. So she was moving around in search of trouble, moving stealthily across rooftops. She wished Ellin didn't disappear when she transformed, she would have liked the company.

"-Maybe we should just ask her," someone was saying.

Lea darted behind a chimney immediately, and peeked round at them. Cat Noir and Ladybug were sitting on the edge of the roof with their legs over the edge and their backs to her.

"What if she doesn't trust us?" Cat Noir asked.

"It's not like we'll ask her who she really is," Ladybug replied. "We just need to know if she's on our side. Besides, I don't ask you about your identity."

So, they don't know who they really are. Lea had to admit, she was shocked, she thought the two of them were closer than that.

"What if she doesn't join us?" Cat Noir continued.

"We don't want to pressure her, we haven't even met her yet," Ladybug told him. "I should be going now, I have school in the morning."

"School?" He asked tentatively. "Maybe we go to the same school."

"Wouldn't that be something?" She giggled, and climbed to her feet.

Lea listened as silence fell. Once she was sure that they had gone, she stood up and looked round. But Cat Noir was still there, standing on the ledge and looking down. He turned and gasped when he saw her, then quickly composed himself.

"Hi," he said, flashing her a showy smile.

"H-Hallo," she faltered, then mentally kicked herself.

"Hallo? Don't you mean hello?" He laughed, not realising her mistake.

"Yes, hello," she was still ducking behind the chimney, watching him cautiously.

"So, you're the Fox everyone is talking about," he started walking toward her, slowly but purposefully.

"How perceptive of you," she said disdainfully, straightening up and leaning on the chimney.

"Now that you're one of us, what-"

"Ich bin nicht einer von euch," she muttered scornfully. Lea wished her parents had made her speak German at home, she was going to give herself away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get that," he said confused.

"I'm said I'm not one of you!" She raged. "If you come near me, you better be prepared to fight!"

And with that, she raced away and leapt onto the roof next door.

She was minutely aware that he was chasing her, and she swore to herself because it meant she couldn't go straight home. She kept going, hoping to outrun him. Eventually, he gave up and let her be. Then Lea returned home, at two in the morning, and went straight to bed.

She was late for school the next day, and still exhausted. She had barely got any sleep. She'd blown her chance to make them think she would work with them. So much for the surprise attack. Not only that, but Cat Noir was really a student at Françoise Dupont, then he would recognise her accent right away. She was too nervous to even sleep in class, and she barely spoke to anyone. When it was time for their first break, and the other students were dispersing from the classroom, Ellin risked poking her head out of Lea's bag.

"Ellin," Lea whispered sharply.

"Lea, I need to-" but Lea was shoving Ellin back into her bag as Adrien approached her.

"Hey, you speak German, right?" He asked, trying to be casual.

"My parents taught me when I was young," Lea replied, trying to hide her suspicion.

"Can you teach me?" He inquired, leaning forward on her desk and keeping his voice low.

"Why do you want to learn?" Lea asked, remembering her encounter with Cat Noir last night.

"No reason," he lied.

As Lea made her way to Agreste Mansion after school, she thought of Adrien. If he was Cat Noir, then things were going to get bad. She would have to tell Gabriel that his own son was trying to take over Paris, but she had to be sure first. She pressed the buzzer and Nathalie let her in. As she shuffled toward the front door it opened, and out came Kerstin Keller.

"Mutti?" Lea gasped. "Warum bist du hier?"

"Lea, I came to see how your internship was going," she said, and Lea got the feeling that wasn't true. "Gabriel says he's very impressed with you."

"Gabriel? Since when are you in first name terms with him?" Lea challenged her suspiciously, of course she was also on first names terms with him but that wasn't the point.

"I'll see you at home," Kerstin replied quickly, as they passed by each other.

"Mutti-"

"Chous, Lea!" She called over her shoulder, as she disappeared round the corner and the gates closed behind her.

"Was war das?" Lea muttered, before going into Agreste Mansion.

She wondered how she would tell Gabriel that she suspected his son of being Cat Noir. But how would she find out for sure? Deciding not to tell Gabriel until she knew for definite, she knocked on his office door.

"Come in," he called.

He was sitting behind his desk adjusting his tie and shirt collar.

"Ah, Lea, your mother was just here," he told her.

"I saw her on my way in, I hope she didn't bother you," Lea blushed, her mother had been known to over-involve herself at times.

"Not at all," he replied distantly. "I'm actually very busy today, perhaps you should go and work on our side project for a while?"

"Of course," she replied. "I'll see myself out."

She closed the door after herself and turned to almost walk into Adrien. He stopped quickly and held his arms out so she could steady herself.

"Guten Morgen," he said cheerily, walking beside her toward the stairs.

"Morgen is morning, Adrien, you mean guten Abend," she corrected him, coming to a halt at the top of the stairs. "Actually, I'm free for a while, I could give you a lesson now, if you'd like?"

"Uhm, ja bitte," he replied uncertainly.

"Sehr gut," she said enthusiastically. "You're off to a good start."

Adrien led her to a small library within the mansion and they sat down on a couple of arm chairs. Adrien's homework was still strewn all over the table, and a small television set was on but muted.

"I'm going to start you off with the alphabet, okay?" Lea told him, her eyes wandered over to the screen.

It showed Ladybug fighting with one of Hawk Moth's Heroes. Adrien noticed it too.

"I wonder where Cat Noir is," Lea said flatly, keeping her eyes on Adrien.

"What about the Fox, where is she?" He wondered aloud, appearing not to have heard her.

"At least we'll be safe here," she said, realising that if Cat Noir did turn up then he couldn't be Adrien.


	7. Chapter 7 No Way

**Author's Note: The link I posted in Chapter Six doesn't work, it's now in the description for this Fic. This chapter is a bit longer than usual, to make up for the longer wait.**

 **Chapter Seven:** No Way.

The two teens kept their eyes on the screen with baited breath. Lea knew Adrien would be rooting for Ladybug, he didn't know any better, but she couldn't help but feel smug whenever the princess themed Hero landed a hit. The screen went to static, and Lea figured the news crew's camera must have lost connection.

"Oh, no. Ladybug," Adrien gasped.

"You're safer here, anyway," Lea replied, keeping her turquoise eyes on the blank screen.

"Yeah," he agreed, frowning at the floor.

The two of them were silent for a while, and Lea wondered if she should ask him to return their lesson.

"Lea, can I ask you something?" He said eventually.

"Ja, na sicher," she allowed him.

"I don't know what that meant, but I'll ask anyway," he laughed hesitantly. "What is it like, working with my father?"

Lea choked on her breath and stared at him. Why was he asking? Did he know she was the Fox? She swallowed, counting the seconds that passed. She had to say something, but what?

"I only ask because I don't talk to him much," he said quickly, sensing her apprehension.

Her body sagged as she relaxed.

"It's okay, not what I expected," she replied. "To tell the truth, Marinette deserves it more than I do."

"That's not true, my father must have picked you for a reason," he said smiling.

Yeah, my Miraculous, Lea thought bitterly.

"Maybe we should go watch the fight in person?" She suggested, wanting to see if Cat Noir had showed up.

By the time they got there, a crowd had gathered in the street to watch. Juleka was screaming at the Hero to stop. The Hero, who seemed to be Rose in a large fluffy pink dress and tiara, was fighting Ladybug with everything she had. Lea was vaguely aware of Adrien slipping away into the crowd, and she smiled silently to herself. Little did he know, he was confirming her suspicion. She would still need to find a way to tell Gabriel that his son was in fact Cat Noir, but first she wanted absolute proof.

She began to move backwards and pushed her way out of the crowd. After hurrying into an alley, she let Ellin out of her hiding place in her bag.

"Adrien snuck away, I bet you Cat Noir will show up to help," Lea filled her in.

"I saw his Kwami the other day," Ellin admitted. "I was going to tell-"

"Forget that right now," Lea cried hotly. "Just do your thing."

Ellin nodded sadly and flew into the necklace Miraculous.

Lea grinned as the magic took over her, and her outfit changed to the orange jumpsuit and white mask. She brought her hands up and rubbed the fox ears atop her head, they were fake but they still wouldn't budge. The foxtail Miraculous had turned completely white, and Lea knew it wouldn't start to turn orange again until she used her Body Beacon.

She leapt out from the alley and started pushing her way through the crowd. People parted out the way, allowing her to get through. Lea had been right, Cat Noir was also making his way through the crowd. She gave him a short wink as they made eye contact and broke free from the crowd. Cat Noir was close behind her, and Lea wasn't sure if he was chasing her or not. The Princess turned to look at Lea, and Ladybug cried out. But Lea ran past the Princess, and leapt at Ladybug.

"What are you doing?!" Ladybug gasped, as Lea pushed her to the ground.

Cat Noir, who had immediately started fighting the Princess, was now shouting at her. As Lea was distracted, Ladybug was back on her feet and tackling Lea.

"Stummen Fehler," Lea cursed as she went toppling backward.

But the Princess came to her rescue, and shot of blast of glitter at Ladybug. In the confusion, Lea clambered to her feet and backed off from Ladybug.

As the glitter settled on the ground, the two Miraculous holders made eye contact and Lea scowled at her rival. Ladybug shot her a confused look back, jumped to the side just in time to dodge another blast of glitter from the Princess.

"Ladybug, the party popper!" Cat Noir yelled to his partner.

Once again, Cat Noir and Lea were racing to get to the Princess. Lea blocked the way and held her arms out.

"Whose side are you on?" He demanded, stopping in front of her but remaining in a battle stance.

"I work for Hawk Moth," she growled, "and I will not let you corrupt Paris anymore!"

"Wha-?"

"Body Beacon!" She screamed, looking directly at him.

Reality slowed, and Lea was looking at herself. Her body, still disguised as the Fox, was completely still and staring vacantly at her. She looked down at the black jump suit that Cat Noir wore, and slowly began to grin to herself. Very slowly, as time had still not sped up, she started to remove his ring. Ladybug was starting to win in her efforts against the Princess, and didn't seem to be aware that Lea had switched bodies. Her hand closed around the ring and she tugged it off. As the magic began to ware off of Cat Noir's body, Lea was transported suddenly back into her own body.

Adrien looked around confused, and people were crying out and muttering to themselves. Lea didn't hesitate, she dashed forward and grabbed the ring from his hand. Aware that her own identity would soon be revealed. But Ladybug's Yo-Yo wrapped itself around her wrist as she turned to flee.

She looked over her shoulder and glared at the black and red clad girl. Rose was sitting on the ground clutching her broken party popper.

"Ladybug, you have to purify the Akuma," Adrien called out. "Let her go for now."

Ladybug hesitantly released Lea and turned her attention to the butterfly that was fluttering away.

"De-evilize!" Ladybug cried, catching the insect in her Yo-Yo.

'De-evilize'? Lea thought, as she hurried away from the scene.

She kept running even after she'd transformed back. Ellin floated alongside her, but neither of them spoke. Lea didn't bother going back to Agreste Mansion, she didn't want to run into Adrien. But she knew she'd have to give Gabriel the ring.

"What do you intend to do with me?" Said a voice, making Lea jump.

It was Plagg, the cat Kwami. He was flying along behind Ellin, giving her a disappointed look.

"I can't give you back, you've seen my face," Lea replied, trying to think.

She started to climb a fire escape, and the two Kwamis followed her.

"I should have told you it was Adrien, but I was worried what would happen," Ellin pleaded.

"It doesn't matter," Lea said coldly.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir are not the enemy," Plagg cried.

Lea stopped running, and paused to lean on a chimney. She ran a hand through her strawberry blonde hair and sighed.

"Ladybug said something about evil," Lea muttered, looking at Plagg.

"She has to purify the Akuma, otherwise it will come back if the victim is overwhelmed with negative emotion again," Plagg explained.

"What's an Akuma?" Lea asked blankly.

"You don't know?" Plagg gasped, floating closer to her.

"Still sein, I'm new at this," Lea growled.

"Hawk Moth told us Ladybug and Cat Noir are trying to destroy Paris," Ellin explained. "But Adrien didn't seem so bad."

"Adrien is a good kid," Plagg shrugged. "He's protecting Paris from Ladybug. Hawk Moth preys on people who have given up on living, and manipulates them into trying to destroy Ladybug and Cat Noir."

Lea's eyes widened. She turned to Plagg with a look of horror and shook her head.

"Nein, ich half ihm," she whined. "He really did only pick me because of my Miraculous. And I outed Adrien, mein Gott."

She fell into a sitting position and tucked her knees up underneath her chin. The feeling she had when she won the fashion competition was returning. Her breaths were short and shallow, and she couldn't think straight. Gabriel Agreste, Hawk Moth, had lied to her. He had manipulated her into turning against Ladybug and Cat Noir, the true heroes of Paris, and now she had blown Adrien's cover. It was a long while before the feeling is despair and nausea subsided, and even then Lea had difficulty collecting her thoughts.

"I'll bring your back to Adrien, Kwami," Lea said to Plagg, he hadn't yet introduced himself. "And then I'll decide what to do about Hawk Moth."


	8. Author's Note

**Author's Note:** Hey, Ven here. This is really abrupt, and I'm very sorry for that. But, the truth is I can't think of anything for The Fox. I'm dead in the water here. Normally, I wouldn't do end a Fic so suddenly, but my other projects are suffering because of it. I haven't updated anything in weeks now, and I can't get to them because I'm too busy stressing about this one. I will be writing another Miraculous fic at some point, I'm still very eager to try out my Felix idea, but I think I need to finish some of my others before I get to that. I may update this one, but I make no promises. Very sorry to those who awaited a next chapter. **~Ven.**


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